His statement, “or intoxication,” means that one who loses his reason through intoxication must make up the prayers. If he was sinful in becoming intoxicated, then there is no doubt that he is obliged to make them up, because this occurred by his own choice, and because he was not permitted to do so. Moreover, if we were to waive the making up of prayers for one who drinks wine, then whenever he wished not to pray, he could consume an intoxicant, thereby committing two offenses: drinking an intoxicant and abandoning the prayer.

If, however, he was not sinful in becoming intoxicated—for example, if he drank a beverage unaware that it was intoxicating—he must likewise make them up, because this occurred by his own choice. Yet he incurs no sin, since he was unaware that it was intoxicating.

As for analogizing him to one who has fainted, this is open to question.

If you say: “Does Allah not say, ‘O you who believe, do not approach the prayer while you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying’ [al-Nisa 4:43]? How, then, can he be required to make up something which he was forbidden to approach?” The answer is that the verse does not prohibit approaching the prayer unconditionally. Rather, it prohibits approaching it while intoxicated, until the intoxicated person knows what he is saying. Once he knows what he is saying, the prayer becomes binding upon him as a timely performance if its time remains, or as a make-up prayer if its time has passed. This is why the four imams unanimously held that whoever loses his reason through intoxication must make up the prayers (1).

His statement, “or the like,” means matters similar to those mentioned, such as henbane and medicine. This is a matter concerning which there is disagreement (2). Some scholars hold that if a person loses his reason through something permissible, he is not required to make up the prayers, because he is excused. The view that appears stronger to me is: